5 New Metal Songs Leading the Resistance

Welcome to Pitchfork’s monthly metal column, where we guide you through the genre’s new music and happenings with an eye towards a specific theme. This month’s theme is resistance.

Metal is—and has always been—political. The past weeks have proved it: On Monday, an anonymous open letter was published on MetalSucks requesting that the long-standing, well-respected label Hell’s Headbangers cease distribution of works from white supremacist and National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) bands. “This is no time for apolitical fence sitting,” it read. “We request that you take a stand towards a better state of things for metal.” The statement was nuanced and respectful, bringing attention to a dark corner of the community that’s even become an issue in the mainstream.

Only hours later, a counter essay came from Matt Harvey, frontman of the excellent death metal bands Exhumed, Gruesome, and Expulsion. A self-proclaimed “California libtard,” Harvey wrote earnestly about the need for metal to exist as a free space for our most extreme thoughts, citing as example his own works of gore and brutality. In making his defense, he conceded that the music in debate represents thoughts that are “disgusting, small-minded, irrational, and factually incorrect,” and called NSBM “awful music made by assholes.” Regardless, he argued—in a regrettable, “slippery slope” stance he compared to the American president’s—if we start removing these bands’ platforms, then where will we draw the line? He conceded he didn’t know.

But the answer seems pretty clear. Hate speech against marginalized groups should not be supported in the metal community, and Hell’s Headbangers should be able to choose which artists do and do not get space in their catalog. It’s not an issue of free speech; it’s entirely their prerogative. There’s something old-fashioned about Harvey’s arguments for metal as an “apolitical” underground counterculture. His concern for the impact of removing NSBM releases from metal distros seems a lot less pressing than the bigger question the initial open letter addresses: Where can this community start fighting the very real threats many of its members face? Removing white supremacist music from an independent distro seems like a decent place to start.

Reflecting on the response he received to coming out publicly, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford recently noted that metal fans are the “most tolerant…the most open-minded, the most loving, the most accepting of all the kinds of music that we know in rock’n’roll.” This rings true, in many ways. But for metal to remain tolerant and open-minded does not mean assuring the most hateful bands they have a prominent voice. It means standing up against things that are wrong. Metal can be an escape, but it does not exist in a vacuum.

One thing Harvey and I do agree on, however, is that no one should tell anyone what or what not to listen to. So this month, let me suggest five metal releases that stand in resistance to the myriad darknesses of the world, whether it’s natural disaster, personal tragedy, or Nazi scum. These are works from artists, labels, and organizations that present metal as one of our greatest resources against oppression.

Black Metal Alliance // Crushing Intolerance Vol. 5

I’ve written before about the excellent Crushing Intolerance compilation series, which was founded by members of Twilight Fauna and Deafest to fund various charities voted on by its artists. This month’s installment, the series’ fifth, benefits the Indigenous Environmental Network. It includes timely anthems like Ἄγνωστος Θεός’s “Fuck You Alt-Right” and Harley Quimm’s “Annihilate Supremacy.”

The standout is Deafest’s own contribution, the seven-minute epic “Krummholz.” Like the greatest black metal songs, it packs all its misery into its mournful riffs, a progression of haunting melodies thick with atmosphere (and possibly backed by xylophone?). Chase Ambler, who’s been operating the project for nearly a decade, alternates between stately, nylon-string acoustic guitar and gnarly electric riffage to make a song that feels cinematic and sweeping, like a wordless State of the Union address.

Glacial Tomb // “Fuck Nazi Sympathy”

Earlier this year, the Denver metal trio Glacial Tomb released their first demo, Cognitive Erosion. The group, which features current and former members of Khemmis and Abigail Williams, make burly, grotesque, blackened death metal. This month, they cover the title track from the anarcho-punk band Aus-Rotten’s 1994 EP Fuck Nazi Sympathy to communicate a point that should seem obvious. “Don’t respect something that has no respect,” they shout. “Don’t understand something that has no understanding.” The song is available for free, but the band is donating all other profits from their Bandcamp to charity, including the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign. Their existence is proof that misanthropy and philanthropy can go hand-in-hand.

Acephalix // “God Is Laughing”

This week, 20 Buck Spin—the righteous Olympia, Wash. label—announced that proceeds from their sales through next week will be donated to support relief efforts in Texas. Accordingly, it’s a perfect time to pre-order Decreation, the overwhelming and depressive new album from previously dormant death metal quartet Acephalix. “God Is Laughing” is a highlight from the record, propelled by the relentless rhythm of drummer Dave Benson and the cavernous howl of vocalist Daniel Butler. The San Francisco group have reemerged at a perfect time for their spiritually searching, old-school anthems to resonate with extra depth.

Hell // Hell

More than most bands in the glaringly literal world of metal, Hell’s music invokes their name. The burbling, vicious black metal of M.S.W’s one-man band sounds like scorched earth, like hopelessness, like misery incarnate. His latest album is, by my counts, Hell’s fifth self-titled work, making the already-elusive project even harder to keep track of (let alone to Google).

Hell’s music is vivid and open for interpretation, like a particularly surreal nightmare. And, when it bursts into moments of catharsis, like the wild, warbling guitar solo near the end of “Machitikos,” it invokes a physical and emotional response. “Being able to create music like this has helped me get through those hard times without winding up dead myself,” revealed M.S.W., the band’s sole member, in a recent interview. Fearless and explosive, his latest record offers the same salve for the listener.

Mausoleum Gate // “Solomon’s Key”

As far as I know, Finland’s Mausoleum Gate have no political affiliation or stance regarding current events. Regardless, this song—from the band’s excellent new album, Into Dark Divinity—is an uplift: a gaze through ancient mirrors to seek new wisdom. The band combine influences from proto-metal like Deep Purple with 1980s standbys to make music that rings with a pleasant familiarity, at once a comfort and a mystery. “Solomon’s Key” is a slice of metal escapism, toying with the edges of sanity yet featuring rippling guitar harmonies, accompaniments that sound like flutes, and background vocals that you’ll be singing along to by the second listen. It’s communal uplift in the form of a satanic anthem, raging at the darkness with a menacing kind of light.